O'Neil waits to learn fate

They are familiar words to those job-hunting, but certainly not music to anyone's ears -- "Don't call us, we'll call you." To George O'Neill they have created a purgatory-like world. The Penn interim men's soccer coach is anxiously awaiting to hear whether he will be offered the permanent position. The Athletic Department has not yet decided O'Neill's fate. He is one of the remaining candidates for the position, thrown into the mix with numerous others. Athletic Director Paul Rubincam is out of town until Thursday, and was unavailable for comment. Shortly after his return, an announcement is expected. The original deadline of the internal selection committee was December 1, but was pushed back to the end of the month because of the size of the applicant pool. When the committee was unable to come to a decision that date was again postponed. The search committee hoped to conclude its proceedings with a final meeting January 7, but it was cancelled due to inclement weather, leaving O'Neill and his players under a cloud of uncertainty. O'Neill was contacted January 5, but has not heard from the Athletic Department since. O'Neill was yesterday unsure when he would be informed of his fate, and was unaware last Friday's meeting was postponed. "It has been a bit frustrating," O'Neill said. "I don't know what the reasons are, but I haven't heard anything since last week." O'Neill was hired a few weeks prior to the start of the 1993 season, following the resignation of Steve Baumann. The smoke had barely cleared before the Quakers took the field. Although Penn's record -- 5-10 overall, 1-6 Ivy League -- did not show drastic progress, there appeared to be marked improvement over the 1992 campaign. Numerous opposing coaches praised O'Neill and the seemingly revived Penn soccer program. An impressive 4-2 win over then 14th-ranked Philadelphia Textile, in only the fourth game of the season, resoundingly signalled the arrival of the Quakers. The team eventually lost a number of nail-biters, resulting in an uninspiring record. But the final picture showed Penn was on its way. But now, amid finger-crossed players and a patient interim coach, the future is unknown. "The Athletic Department should have hired someone for this job a long time ago. They should have hired George [O'Neill]," said former Penn assistant coach Brian Kammersgaard, who was recently named head soccer coach at Chestnut Hill Academy in Philadelphia. "He's certainly the most qualified of all the candidates they've got now." When the selection process began in November, Associate Athletic Director Skip Jarocki said the decision to search for a new coach in no way reflects O'Neill's performance. Instead it is based on University policy requiring applications to be solicited for positions currently filled in an interim capacity, he said. The delay has left players upset with the process and confused why it was not a mere formality to promote O'Neill from his interim status. All of the players signed a petition submitted to the Athletic Office giving unconditional support for O'Neill. "I don't understand what the problem is," senior Chris Eidem said. "All of the players want O'Neill. He has experience from the toughest clubs in Europe and knows as much as anyone. Look at Bobby Clarke of Dartmouth. He came over from Europe, started in the same position as O'Neill, and look at his program now. It's one of the best in the country." Virtually all of Penn's players experienced the Baumann saga, and are averse to the idea of having three different coaches in three years. "The players must be frustrated, seeing what they went through before this season with coach Baumann leaving," O'Neill said. "It also hurts recruiting a lot as incoming players are reluctant to come here because of the uncertainty surrounding the place." So George O'Neill sits in his home, waiting for that phone call, certainly not humming the theme to Jeopardy.